Brazilian Colonialism: The Brazilian Anthropophagic Movement

The essay discusses the issues around colonialism, historical revisionism and cultural exchange theories with emphasis in the Brazilian Anthropophagic Movement. Derived from the Tupi-Guarani, the word Pindorama means "Land of the Palms" and, says the history, that would be the name by which the natives called Brazil when it was discovery. The subject of Colonialism will be analysed here in the marginalised community context and the essay aims to expose this exact side of the story that was made invisible to the eyes of Brazilian society throughout the decades. The Eurocentric approach in Colonialism is extremely problematic and misleading, specially when it is perpetuated in colonised countries. The conversation around the consequences of the

Tarsila was born in Capivari, a countryside of São Paulo in 1886, she is from a traditional and wealthy family, therefore the artist was able to educate herself to the fullest and even complete her education abroad. At the age of 16, she painted her first artwork, O Sagrado Coracao de Cristo (Most Sacred Heart of Jesus) probably still very influenced by her traditional upbringing and education. O Abaporu would become the most famous and valuable Brazilian painting ever sold, it was purchased in 1995 by Eduardo Constantini for $1,5 million and it is part of the collection of MALBA (Museu de Arte Latino-Americana de Buenos Aires). O Abaporu was painted in 1928 and it was a gift to Tarsila’s husband, the writer and poet, Oswald de Andrade. The elements in the painting inspired him to write the *Manifesto Antropofágico that also lead to the *Movimento Antropofágico in Brazil in the

The Brazilian author, who constantly travelled to Europe, was in Paris when Marinetti announced the commitment of literature with the new technical civilisation and fights against academism. On the contrary of what Oswald observed in Brazil, where we had a very academic and Europeanised influence in art, literature and poetry with the strong presence of *Parnasianismo. Brazilian literature has always had an identity crisis, as have many literatures from countries that have been colonized, because they do not feel they belong to the natives or to the colonizers. O Abaporu then became the symbol of the Movimento Antropofágico and initiated the anthropophagi phase of Tarsila do Amaral from 1928 and 1930. It is possible to identify characteristic elements of the artist’s, such as the strong use of colours and the inclusion of imaginary thematic and the alteration of the reality. In the painting we see the figure of a man with oversized feet and hands, those elements most likely represent the physical work that was made by the majority of people in Brazil. The sun and cactus are very representative of the *sertão in Northeast of Brazil, one of the poorest areas of Brazil even up to this date. On the other hand, the small head can signify the lack of critical thinking of a man who limits himself to work with his strength but without much